Cop supplying mechanism



24, 1953 w. S'CHWEITER COP SUFPLYING MECHANISM 2SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed. May 24, 1947 Feb. 24, 1953 w. SCHWEITER COP SUPPLYING MECHANISM 2 Sl'iEETS-SHEET 2 Filed May 24, 1947 Mix 62 INV NT m 5 R ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 24, 1953 COP-SUPPLYING MECHANISM- Walter Schweiter; Horgen, Switzerland; assignor to Maschinenfabrik Schwei-te1-A.- G.,- a corporation of Switzerland APplicationMay24, 1947, Serial N0.- 75il,27'1: lnswitzcrland June --5, 19.461

7 Claims (Cl. ISIS-163) My iinventionrelates to mechanism 101 a'ma= chine, for supplyingpops, spindles, quills and analogous. circular or rollinabodies (all of which are referred toherein as cops) to Whatever apparatus they may be destined for. ItLis' especially suitable for supplying. empty cops to winding, machines -having,automatic..cop changing mech.- anisms,,that is to say,. mechanisms that'auto-' matically discharge eachicoprfrom the winder as it isfill'ed and substitute an empty cop-for'it'.

Speaking generally, (andior conciseness, with specialreference to supplying cops-"to :winding machineslthe invention includes taking the cops one..by ,one.from, a bin into which the cops are dumped. or thrown perhaps. pellj mell, bythe workmen, .and. then depositing them, say, one by one, in..receptacles of..a..conveyor of the endless belt type that transports the. cops "to a'group of winders and leavesa cop at each winder of the group. as andjwhen. the "respective winder. may require it; Provision is made for delivering cops to only such receptacles of the conveyor as return. to. their cop receiving station empty, i.' e.. withouta cop,.as yet undelivered to...a winder. Also anequalizing. magazine, as I :call' it, and associated mechanism, is provided intermediate the mechanismth'at takes the cops-from the bin andfconveyor; this serves. to compensate for the fact. that .the mechanism which takes the cops from .the Join. delivers its cops. at an irregularly. variable rate, and'also. the winders take. cops from. the .conveYQrat an..independently irregular variable rate and accordingly the conveyor can take cops only irregularly.

The 'accompanying drawings illustrate .a pre-.- feirred form ofmy, inventionas appliedtosupplyr ing empty cops. to copewinding, machines... In these .drawingsFig. 1 is. an elevation; partly inv section, of a bin and sorting and .cop arranging apparatusgand an elevator to raise the copsto the'high'er levellat which the conveyor is placed; usually, inconvenience. Figs. 2 "and 3are, respectively, a side view and a. plan ofthesame mechanism... Fig..e;is.a section of adetail 'of the sortingmechanism. Fi-gs.f5fand '6 are planvie'ws adjacent. the mechanism 2 which arranges. the cops inan orderly. manner, and servingto illustrate operations. Fig. v"Iiill'ustratesa detail of the sorter mechanism; Fig. 8'is a vertical section of .the equalizer'magazine and .associatedapparw tus,-and-,a portion. ofv the conveyorthat carries the cops .tothe winders.- Fig.9 is an elevation. of the same mechanism .with; a .part of. theapparae tus ina differentposition. Figs. 10 "and ;11..are sections. .on. the lines .I-l-I and. II'-II of "Fig, 9.

2- Fig. .12 is a section on.line-III:II'I of'Fig. 8: Fig. 13"is1 a section on;the line IV-IV of' Fig; 8,- certain parts'being omitted." Fig. l4"is-a=detai1 of the sorting mechanism.

The principalparts or groups of 'parts of the machine illustrated'are the following: The sorting; and arranging apparatus A, including -the separating drum or bin into which the cops are deposited by the workmen; the elevator B: the equalizing magazine and associatedgmechanism C; and-the conveyor D'pr endless chains-with the cop receptacles or carriers which convey-the cops to the cop-Winding machines (notshown here).

In the portionof'the apparatus A=(Figs. l to? inclusive 'and'Fig. 14). a frame I 'supportsthe bin, or separating or supply drum 2"into-whichi the empty cops to ,be, supplied to the winding machines one by one are depositedbythemill hands. It"'is.revolvable1on an upright postg3 which is rigidly 'mountedon'gframe l. Theinner face of the. drum walle is providedwithiseveral slats 5 (eight, for'example) which are slightly inclined. from avertical position." Ahorizontal shaft 6 is .rotatablyfljournaled inframe I and is driven continuously by, say; a pulley or sprocket 1. A thread ;gear 9;" on shaft 6'; and turning therewith; meshes With'a gear; I llfrigidly mounted on drum 2," andthereby rotates the drum 2 ,con'' tinuously.

On. an arm H of frame! is fixed the elevator. Bf "(Figs 1, 2 'and3) having "a'hOlISiDgjIZ in which are mounted upper and. lower rollers l3jandl4 respectively whichxcarry a beIt'IElJ. The roller M .iis' fixed on shaft t .and drives 'the belt l 5 which isprovided withprojejcting blocks [6. The housing'il 2 terminates atgits upper endiat atube' or funnel .;52 and. has at its .lowergend a funnel,- shaped inletv I '6 into which leads aninclined surface laformingga rolling path for thecops between thewalls wand. 29;" As-before indicated the purpose of'the elevator Bis to raise the cops to .a level'above the'conveyor. This permits'the billlOl" drum 2 to be located on'th'e floor ,of the mill where the millhands can .dump empty 'cops into itjwlthbllt muchlifting, and at the sametime permits the conveyor :to'be locatedfabout onthe level of or .above the winding headslof the cop,- winder or cop-winders suppliedby the apparatus.

On the .upright post 3 issrigidly mounted tue bular member 25 (not rotatable) from which extends; at its bottom end,'a:substantially radial beam 22, preferably curved in the direction of rotation of. the drum'Z: (Fig. 3) and. at its topend a radialtop arm 23 "connected to the inclined plane I8. Beam 22 extends gradually into a guide rail 24 which rises gradually and is disposed close to the slats 5, and at its top continues into the inclined plane l8. The guide rail 24 is inclined toward drum wall 4 to form with the drum wall 4 a V-shaped channel whereby the cops passing up the guide rail 24 tend to rest in the path of the slats 5 (Figs. 4 and 5).

A vertical plate or bar 26 disposed about at the upper end of the guide rail 24 and about where the plane |8 begins to incline downwardly, together with its supporting arm 21, is pivoted in, say, a bracket 28 fixed laterally to housing l2. On arm H a pin 29 pivotally mounts a lever 39 fitted with a cam roller 3| engaging a cam disk 32 fixed on shaft 6 (Figs. 1, 5 and '7). This lever 39 is provided with rod 33 which is articulated at 34 at its top end to the arm 21. The purpose of this mechanism is to retain each cop at the top of the incline l8 until it is entirely or substantially free of the side wall 4 of the bin or drum, and only then, by rising, permit the cop to roll down the incline l8 (see Figs. 5 and 6). There may also be provided a plate 25, e. g. hinged at 21g, to sweep surplus cops from the guide rail 24 so that only one arrives at the incline l8 at a time (Figs. 5 and 3). This may be operated from the top arm 23 (see Fig. 14), say by a bell-crank lever 25a pivotally supported on the bracket 257' (mounted on the top radial arm 23) connected by a rod 25b to a lever 250 having a cam follower roller engaging the edge of a cam 25d on shaft 6, so that the plate 25 sweeps over the guide rail 24, say just in advance of each slat 5 (Fig. 5), to sweep surplus cops back into the bin.

The tube or funnel 42 at the outlet of the elevator B (Fig. 2) extends to the distributing or delivery apparatus C (Figs. 8 to 13, inclusive), including the oscillating funnel 6| and the equalizing magazine 18. To a wall 44 of a support frame are bolted brackets 45, 46 and 41 (Fig. 8) which act as bearings for shaft 48 which is rotated continuously. Fixed to and near the top of shaft 48 so as to turn therewith is bevel gear wheel 49 carrying on its underside a looking pawl 5| (Fig. 13). This pawl 5| is hinged on pin 59, is fitted with a projecting pin 52, and is pressed by spring 53 into one of two recesses 54 in the driver member 55 fixed on shaft 48.

Bevel gear wheel 49 engages another bevel wheel 56 carried on shaft 51 journaled in bracket 45. On shaft 51 is a sprocket 58 which, through chain 8 and sprocket 1 (Fig. 1), drives shaft 6 of the separating drum and elevator apparatus.

v Also supported by a bracket attached to wall 44, is a stationary plate 59 which holds immovably therein an upright rod 60. The top part of rod 60 is supported by bracket 46 through which it protrudes to enter an extension on the wall of the guide funnel 6| thus providing an axis on which the funnel can swing or oscillate. Also projecting downward from the guide funnel 6| is an arm 62. This arm 62 has a vertical slot 63. To provide additional support for the funnel 6|, the arm 62 can be provided with a horizontal extension 62a to rest on, say, a bushing 15 carried by the plate 59, and provided with an eye 620 through which shaft 60 passes. The guide funnel 6| has a finger or stop 64 at its top.

A slide member 65 rotatable around rod 60, has near its top an annular groove 66 and, at its bottom, an oblique cam slot 61. It has also a projection finger 68 above cam slot 61 which ex- 4 tends into the vertical slot 63 of arm 62 of guide funnel 6|, so that oscillation of the slide member 65 will cause guide funnel 6| to swing simultaneously around the rod 69.

An arm 69 hinged on wall 44 carries two rollers 19 and 1|. The roller 10 engages in a cam track 12 in cam-drum 73 which is fixed on shaft 48, while the roller 1| engages in the annular groove 66 in the slide member 65. Accordingly rotation of the cam drum 13 by shaft 48 causes arm 69, and therewith the slide member 65, to reciprocate vertically continuously. The bushing or hub 15 is rotatably mounted on rod 69 and plate 59, and is provided with a flange segment 14 (Figs. 8 and 11) and also above the plate 59. This bushing or hub i5 carries the equalizing magazine '18 which has a large center bore 18a and a number of smaller bores 19 (eight for example) arranged in a circle around the center bore. The outlet 6|a of guide funnel 6| is at the same distance radially from rod 69 as bores 19 of equalizing magazine 18 so that the guide funnel 6| can swing over the bores '19. At the lower end of center bore [811 are ratchet teeth 8| engaged by a spring pressed pawl 82 (Fig. 10) which is aflixed to the bottom of the arm 62 of the funnel 6|. Also on the outer surface of the magazine 18, at its lower end, are provided ratchet teeth 83 engaged by a locking pawl 84 which can swing around pin 85 affixed to plate 59 and which is urged by a strong spring 89 against the teeth 83. The pawl 84 completely fills the interval between two locking teeth 93, and because of this and the strong spring 86, the locking pawl 84 permits the equalizing magazine 18 to rotate onl in a counterclockwise direction (direction of arrow in Fig. 10) and then only by exertion of a comparatively strong force. On rod 60 is fixed a ring 81. One end of a torsion spring 88 is fixed to this ring and its other end engages in a hole 89 in the upper end of arm 62. This torsion spring 88 constantly urges the guide funnel 6| to swing in a counterclockwise direction (direction of the arrow in Fig. 10), but since the locking pawl 82 on arm 62 always engages a locking tooth 8| on the equalizing magazine 18, the guide funnel 6| can swing in that direction only when equalizing magazine 18 is rotated in that direction. The spring 88 is too weak to turn the equalizing magazine 18 in the counterclockwise direction against the pressure of the pawl 89.

An aperture 99 is provided in one side of plate 59 under equalizing magazine 18, to permit the escape of cops from the magazine at this point as shown at 9|, Fig. 8.. Under this aperture pass the endless chains 92 of conveyor D bearing the receptacles or carriers 93 for the cops, each of which is closed in front by cover 94 having an aperture or center opening 9411 at its center. The chains 92 carry the carriers 93 in a direction as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 12, being driven by, say, two sprockets 95 and 96 fixed on the driven shaft 49 and provided with recesses 95a and 96a. (Figs. 8 and 12) which permit the carriers or receptacles to pass them. A feeler rod 91 having a cam roller 93 which rests against the curved working face of a cam disk 99 fixed on shaft 48, is hinged on the pin 91a on the bracket 47, and is so bent that it extends upwardly across and in the path of the ratchet teeth 83 on the outside of the magazine 18 (compare Figs. 9, 10 and 12). It is so hinged to the bracket 41 that it can swing tangentially of the path of the teeth 83 as it were, but, for example, is resilient so that On i g it remains in contact with those 5. teethand the circumference "of the magazine 78, and inreturning from right to left, Fig. 10, it can pass over any tooth-83 that-may be in its return path. The feeler rods! is-provioled with a feeier' let disposed toenter the center opening in each of the cover plates Si l-of the cop receptacles'or carriers 93. Normally the cam disk 98, actingon roller 98, holds the feeler I out of the path of the receptacles or carriers 93, but

opposite each-receptacle recess of theconveyor sprockets it-and 96" the disk is cutaway, as at 98a, sufficiently deeply to permit the feeler rod- 91 to swing-inwardly at least far enough to permit' the feeler Hillto enter the receptacles and strikeany cop that may be in the respective receptacle. The ratchet teeth 83 of the magazine 78 are so spaced-that when the 'feeler iiifi findsa cop in a recepacle, andthus limits the inward swing of thefeeler rod 91, the upper end of the feeler rod remains between two adjacent teeth, but when the feeler I63 finds nocop in aparticular receptacle, the inward swing of the feeler rod 9! permitted by the adjacent out 9311 in the cam disk 95! is sufficient to permit the upper end of the feeler rod W to pass one tooth 83 and assume a position about as shown in Fig. 10. When an action such as this last occurs, the immediately following outward swing of the feeler rod under the thrust of the cam disk 99 on its roller 96, causes the feeler rod e? to engage this tooth 83 and turn the magazine 18 sufficiently to carry one bore 79 of the magazine away from the delivery opening Se in plate 59 and bring the next bore (carrying a cop its, Fig. 10) to the delivery opening Kill.

My mechanism operates in the following manner: Rotation of shaft ii, driven from drive shaft t8 through sprocket 53,. chain 3 and sprocket 1, causes the sorting or separating drum 2 to revolve. Empty cops in the bin or drum 2 accumulate on the stationary beam 22 and the lower part of guide rail 24 and against the 'wall A! of the drum. Any cop that may lie flat against the wall 4 in this region may he caught by a slat 5 of the drum wall (Fig. 3), and pushed, head endSB first or pointed end 3% first, up the trough of 24 and thence onto the incline iii 'in front of the gate plate 25 (Figs. 5 and 6). At this point the slats 5 leave the cops by passing around under the rolling-plane or guide rail 251. If two cops become tangled and move up the trough together, one may be pushed off the track 24 by the plate 25 as before described (Fig. 5). The cops are thus picked up out of the bin one by one, but at somewhat varying intervals usually.

A cop reaches the top of the incline it either head-38 first or point tilfirst (Figs. 5 and 6),

and there is held by plate 26 until'it is entirely on that surface. Cam disc 32 (Fig. '7) is so placed on shaft 5 that the plate 26 is then lifted. This permits the cop to roll down incline l8, and in doing so reaches the bottom of incline 18 with its head at foremost. It" then passes to the elevator B" where a block it on the elevator catches the cop and carries it .h'ead downward (Fig. 1), tov the top of the elevator. Here it is overturned through funnel or tube it, falling point downward (Fig. 2, cop designated 5-3), into the guide funnel 6i 'of the delivery or distributing apparatus C (Fig. 8). From the guide funnel 6! the cop (designated iili) passes into whatever bore 79 of the magazine 18 may be beneath it at the moment. The cop comes to rest with its point (I62 in Fig. 11) resting on segment 14. At this time (or rather, so long after each elevator block 6? 16 passes over-:thetop of the elevator:iBfthatritss coppif it carries onewill have reached the seg'-- ment =14)"; the camcdrum 13 on shaft 48 slides member =65 0nroddownwardi. This-causes,

- pin 16300 turn itshubl5} on account-0f itsene gagement in the cam slotiilin sli'demember 65,1 and therewith turn thesegmentl in a clockwise direction (direction-of arrownin Figr 11). This moves the segment M away fromunderneaththe point 162 of cop HM and the flatter-drops down toplate =59; providing a cop i (ii camedownthe funnel 6| as assumed; if none came down the funnel'at thetime (because some slat' 5 of the drum failedto pick-upa-cop) the segment makes the same movement nevertheless.

At the same time the 'lockingpawl 84 keeps equalizing magazine 18 5 stationary by. engaging a tooth 83 "thereon, and the locking pawl 82 on arm- 62 i of guide funnel 61 keeps the funnel motionless by engaging-atooth 8i within *the centerbore liter of the -equalizing magazine 13;

As cam drum 13 continues to-rotate,slide mem ber 55 is moved upward by it, with the result that the pin 16 on hublfi; because of its engagement in the cam slot-61 in slide member 65, tends to turnits hub 15 and the segment'H thereon in'the reverse or "counterclockwise direction. If no cop came down-toa bore inthe'magazine at the time assumed; thehubfliiandsegment 14 return totheir initial positions to await the beginning of another cycle.- On the otherhand if a-cop Hi! came down as assumed, then the 'segment "imintrying to return encounters the cop point ltZ which now rests on plate 59, and thus is prevented from moving-further; Therefore,- since the slide member 65 is moving upward, the pin 75 coacts with the cam slot'fil' and causes the slide-member 65th rotate around rode!) an angular-distance equal to the distance'between two bores 19 of the magazine 18.- Through projection finger -58 in slots 63 in arm 62 this shifts thefunnel (ii clockwise until it comes above the next bore re of the magazine in this direction. This bore will beempty, because in passing the delivery opening 9i it lost-the cop'that was delivered to itsometime before.

It is thus apparent that if the maga'zine 78 remains at restitsvarious bores 19 will be given cops successively, in the clockwise direction: However, while the funnel 6 I is thus trying to fill the magazine with'cops, respectacles or carriers 93 of the conveyorare-being-passedunder aper tureiit in-plate 59. The bore 19 in the-magazine it that is positioned above the aperture '90- at this time happens to be empty. because the cop given to it earlier has fallen from it into an empty receptacle 93." As eachreceptacle 93 thereafter passes the'delivery-opening 9D,-"the feeler on the feeler rod 91' enters it, and as soon'as the feelerfinds an empty receptacle the feeler rod 9? advances the magazine one step; thereby bringing a filed bore 19 to the aperture 98 and the cop [54 of that bore falls into the receptacle. While the magazinezthus advances; the torsion spring 88 tends to cause the funnel (ii to follow the magazine '58 inth'ecounterclockwise direction, and through'armfiz and slot 63,the slide 65 and pin on hub '15, segment "74 also tends to follow the magazine. Accordingly the action of feeding cops to. the magazine and the action of the magazine in delivering cops do not interfere with each other.

These actions of feeding cops to the magazine and the magazine feeding cops to the conveyor D that carries the cops to the winding machines,

are repeated of course. If momentarily the slats tend to separate out cops more slowly than the conveyor D calls for cops, the funnel Bl will tend, in the aggregate, to shift counterclockwise (i. e. in the direction of the arrow in Fig. and give cops to the magazine more and more closely to the delivery port 90. However when this situation changes and momentarily the slats 5 supply cops for the funnel mor rapidly than the conveyor can take cops from the magazine, the reverse occurs; that is to say, the funnel 6! will tend, in the aggregate, to move clockwise, and add cops to the magazine more rapidly than they are taken away. Whenever the two rates are about even, the funnel 6| will oscillate back and forth in a fixed arc.

Speaking generally however, I usually so design the apparatus that, on the average, the slats 5 are able to deliver cops at a greater rate than conveyor D is able to accept cops. While this tends to assure a cop for every receptacle or carrier 93 that may arrive empty at the delivery port 90, it may result at times in having the funnel progressing clockwise (direction of the arrow in Fig. 11) so far that every bore 79 of the magazine contains a cop, excepting the bore directly above the delivery port 95. To prevent further delivery of cops to the magazine while such a situation exists, I arrange for discontinuing the delivery of cops to the funnel at such times. In the present instance this is done by mounting the cop-supplier driving gear 49 loose on the driving shaft 48 and coupling it to the shaft by means of the pawl 5i which is mounted on the underside of this gear and the sleeve 55 which is fastened to the shaft 48 and notched engagingly to receive the pawl as at 54. The pin 52 projecting from the pawl is so placed that it engages with the projection 84 from the top of the funnel 5! when this funnel approaches the particular bore T9 of the magazine that stands, at the moment, above the delivery port 99. Whenever the funnel 5i comes to this position, then this projection 54 is struck by 52, and this turns the pawl 5! out of its notch 54. Accordingly the gear 49 stops rotating, and with it the elevator B and the bin or drum come to rest. As soon as the magazine turns to deliver another cop to the conveyor D, the funnel 5| swings with it of course, and thereby releases the pawl 5| its spring 53 again thrusts the pawl into one of the notches 54 and the separating and arranging mechanism, and the elevator B, again begin to operate.

It will be understood that my invention is not limited to the details of construction and operation shown in the accompanying drawings and described above, except as appears in the claims.

I claim:

1. Mechanism to supply articles substantially individually to a place of use comprising a separator to segregate the articles substantially successively from a mass of them, a conveyor including individual receptacles for the articles to convey the articles successively to such place of use, an equalizing magazine between the separator and the conveyor to receive articles from said separator, and a feeler to feel the receptacles to control the discharge of said articles from said magazine to said receptacles, said conveyor and separator operating independently of each other.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, characterized by the fact said separator is connected to said magazine to deliver to the magazine all the articles passing from the separator.

3. In mechanism to supply cops, a rotary magazine having bores to contain cops, a guide to feed cops to empty bores of the magazine, said magazine and guide being relatively oscillatable back and forth, and a feeler to cause said magazine to turn to a cop-delivery position.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein said magazine has a number of bores to contain said articles as segregated by said separator and said feeler directs the delivery of articles from individual bores of the magazine to individual empty receptacles.

5. Mechanism for supplying cops to cop-winders, including in combination a bin for cops, a separator to individually select cops from the bin and move said cops individually to the oscillatable guide hereinafter mentioned, an oscillatable guide to receive said cops, a rotary equalizing magazine having bores therein, means to oscil late said guide forward and back over said magazine to deliver cops to empty bores, a belt type conveyor to transport cops from said equalizing magazine to the cop winders, said conveyor having receptacles to carry the cops, a feeler to feel said receptacles to cause said magazine to rotate to deliver cops therefrom to empty receptacles, and means on the guide to discontinue the operation of the separator when said guide is oscillated to a position whereat each of a certain number of the bores of the magazine contains a cop.

6. In mechanism to supply articles, a magazine to contain the articles, a guide to feed the articles to the magazine, said magazine and guide being relatively oscillatable back and forth, and a feeler to cause said magazine to move to an article-delivery position.

7. Mechanism to supply articles substantially individually to a place of use comprising a conveyor to convey the articles to the place of use, a magazine to feed the articles to said conveyor and a guide to receive articles from the separator and deliver to the magazine, said magazine and guide being movable, one with respect to the other, in feeding articles from said guide, a separator to segregate the articles substantially successively from a mass of them to said magazine, and a feeler to feel said conveyor and direct the delivery of the articles from said magazine to said conveyor.

WALTER SCHWEITER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,195,571 Flaherty Aug. 22, 1916 1,333,065 Douglass Mar. 9, 1920 1,355,488 McKenney Oct. 12, 1920 1,516,170 Young Nov. 18, 1924 1,609,802 Elkstrom Dec. 7, 1926 1,749,801 Chapman Mar. 11, 1930 1,857,815 Tafferty May 10, 1932 1,892,670 Jaeger Jan. 3, 1933 1,991,699 Reiners Feb. 19, 1935 2,378,579 Popov June 19, 1945 

